Put raisins in a small bowl and pour over 1/2 cup boiling water. Set asside to steep for 20 minutes. In a large bowl, blend together cocoa and 3/4 Cup boiling water. Set cocoa asside to cool.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9-inch cake pan with non-stick spray. Dust pan with 1 or 2 Tbsp flour, coating completely.
Over a medium bowl, sift together flour, soda, and salt. Transfer raisins and water to the beaker of a hand-held mixer or blender and puree. Add beets and and 3/4 of the 1 cup cool water to the puree. Dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1/4 cup water. Stir raisin and beet puree, dissolved cornstarch, vegan sugar, and vanilla into cocoa mixture. Before proceding, this mixture should be at room temperature.
Quickly stir dry ingredients into cocoa mixture. Do not stir longer than needed to thouroughly mix the two. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake on top shelf for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inderted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Let cake sit in pan for 10 to 15 minutes and then remove to a wire rack. Cool cake completely before cutting.

SO HOW'D IT GO?

wow! i was searching ALL OVER for a recipe for red cake with beets! thank you SO MUCH for posting it! i was extremely skeptical of this recipe at first, thinking for sure it must be baking POWDER and not SODA that was needed. even though the amount is pretty big, it is in fact correct, and after following the directions to a T (something i rarely do), this recipe yields one of the moistest-but-still-fluffiest cakes i've ever had! i do recommend perhaps upping the sweetener. i used agave nectar, which i had never used before, so maybe it doesn't hold its sweetness after baking? either way, it needed a bit more of a kick. i was also very excited about the lack of sugar in the recipe, considering i'm very sensitive to it. all i need now is a good recipe for sugar-free frosting, and i'm all set to try this again for my diabetic grandpa!